Serie A Season Ends In High Drama
ROME, May 14 (Reuters)(DS) - The Italian league season ended in high drama on Sunday as torrential rain delayed Juventus' final match at Perugia and a pitch invasion halted Lazio's home tie against Reggina. By 5:35 p.m (1535 GMT) Juventus were only midway through the second half of their match at Perugia and were trailing 1-0 to a 49th minute goal from Massimiliano Cappioli.
The start of the second half had been delayed by over an hour due to a torrential downpour wich filled the changing rooms with several inches of water and left the pitch water-logged.
In sunny Rome, referee Gennaro Borriello had held up the start of Lazio's equally vital match against Reggina in the hope
the rain in Perugia would abate and the two matches could restart at the same time. But after waiting about 20 minutes, Borriello decided to restart the match. Lazio led 2-0 at halftime and added a third goal before around 500 fans staged a largely peaceful pitch invasion.
Borriello ordered all the players to return to the changing rooms. Many of them had their shirts and shorts ripped from them
by supporters as they tried to leave the pitch. After a delay of around 10 minutes, order was restored, the players came out of the tunnel and the match restarted. Lazio completed their 3-0 win. The majority of Lazio fans then stayed in the Olympic Stadium to follow events at Perugia on their radios.
If Juve lose at Perugia, Lazio will be crowned league champions for the first time since 1974 and only the second time
in their history. If Juve draw, the championship will be decided in a play-off for the first time since 1964. If Juve win, they are champions.
In the day's other matches, AC Milan hammered Udinese 4-0 to clinch Italy's third Champions League berth. Parma thrashed Lecce 4-1 and Inter Milan won 2-0 at Cagliari. Parma and Inter now face a play-off for Italy's fourth Champions League berth. Fiorentina beat Venezia 2-0 to clinchd a place in next year's UEFA Cup. Gabriel Batistuta scored twice and equalled the club's Serie A scoring record in what might be his last match for the Florence side. Udinese's defeat at the San Siro sent them into the Intertoto Cup where they will be joined by Verona.
